Othing can be less ambitious than this vol ume. The introduction to the first lecture shows the circumstances under which the lectures were given, and the scope and purpose Of the course. I have, however, added some notes in the line of further development or illustration. It might have been more artistic to have recast the whole, working the notes into the text; but if this had been done, the loss would have exceeded the gain, since the lectures thus remodelled would not have been the lectures delivered, and they would moreover have contained details not adapted to oral discourses. Besides, it is a prized privi lege Of the teacher to make use of the first per son, as this enables him to address his hearers more directly and more forcibly than in any other way. It is Of set purpose, then, that I publish the lectures in their original form. They are just what they are, and just what they purport to be, and nothing more, — namely, discourses to a class Of law students, given largelyto inspire a patriotic and just regard for the laws and institutions of our country, to incite enthu siasm in the study Of the law rather than to im part technical instruction, to awaken inquiry rather than to satisfy it upon subjects Of vital moment to the profession lying somewhat outside Of the Ordinary legal curriculum. It is due to me and to the reader that the book be judged from this point Of View and no other. While it therefore disclaims any pretension to profound research or exhaustive treatment, as inconsistent with its main purpose, it deals, nevertheless, with the interest ing subjects Of legal education; trial by jury; the Origin, development, and characteristics Of the common law; written constitutions, legislation, case-law, the law reports, the doctrine Of judicial precedent, codification, and law reform.